Fire extinguisher



Dec. 6, 1932. w, L RQESSNER 1,889,844

FIRE EXTINGUISHER Filed Sept. 8. 1931 Ime/nto@ Patented Dec. 6, 1932 'WILLIAM L. ROESSNER, 0F DENVER, COLORADO FIRE EXTINGUISHER .Application` led September 8, 1931. Serial No. 561,666.

This invention relates to improvements in fire extinguishers `of the type employing a hermetically sealed glass grenade containing a re extinguishing liquid, such asl carbon ,5 tetrachloride, or the like, and has reference more particularly to means for supporting the grenade and for breaking the same when they temperature to which it is subjectedexceeds a predetermined value.

One of the objects of this rinvention is to produce a supporting devicey for fire extinguishing grenades which shall be so constructed that the same can readily be supported from the wall or from a vertical surface, or from the ceiling of a room.

Another object of this invention is. to produce a temperature responsive device that shall become operative, when the temperature risesl above a predetermined value, for breaking the grenade, so that the liquid contained therein will be released for the purpose of generating a noninflammable gas that will extinguish the fire.V j 1 v Another object of this invention is to prol duce a supporting device ofa very simple but substantial construction that can be very easily made at a small cost and which will be especially well adapted for the purpose unV der consideration.

A still furtherobject of this invention is to produce a fusible-link construction that` shall positively hold the parts against accidental release until the temperature rises to acpredetermined value and in this way pre- -vent the accidental operation of the ire yextinguisher.

The above and-otherobjects that may become apparent as the description proceeds,

are attained byV means of a construction and an arrangement of parts that will now be described in detail and for this purpose reference will be had to the accompanying drawing inf which'the preferred embodiment thereof has been illustrated, and in which: l j

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the re extinguishershowing the same supported Vfrom V the ceiling, a portion of the device being shownrin section to better disclosethecon- Y struction;

`hammer is released in the mannerfwhich will is a perspective view of'a portion of; the device; v

F 3 is a perspective view of the hammer;

Fig. 4' isv a,v section taken online 4 4, Figl; w

Fig. 5 is a'section taken on line 5-5, Fig, Y l, and shows the constructionof the fusible links; and, e Y

Fig. 6 is a side view ofthe fusible element.

In the drawing reference numeral l -indicates the body member of thesupporting l bracket. This portion of the bracket is adapted to be placed in aI vertical position'as shown in the drawing, and the upper end thereof is formed into acircle 2 which has an opening for the reception of a glass grenade 3. In the embodiment shown the supportingring is formedintegral with the body member and is bentoutwardly at an angle of ninety degrees to the same. In- .0, stead of having this ring integral, it may be made from a separate piece, if desired, and

attached to thebody member in any suitable manner. The llowerend ofthe body member which has been designated by reference numeral 4 is bent outwardly at an angle so that it will project outwardly and downwardlyin the mannershown-Q The body member lis' provided near its lower end with a vertical slotr5 through whichv thereduced port-,ion 6 80 of the hammer 7 extends. VThe inner end y of the hammer hasfa transverse portionV 8 whose width is substantially equal to the length of the slot and the hammer can therefore be attached to the body member `by1in- 8.5 serting part'8 through the slot, after which the hammer is rotated through ninety degrees until it assumes a position like that-shown in Fig. l. The free end of the hammer -is bent upwardly and then downwardly as indicated by numeral 9 so as to produce a por-V tion of considerable'weightv thatis so positioned with respectt'o the tip l0, of thegrenade thatI it will strike the latter when the geo hereinafter be` described. Y. Y The hammer is provided with downwardly extending projections 11 and. the projecting portion 4 has corresponding projections 12' that receive the'V ends of the tubel about 1,

which the coil spring 14 is positioned. The function of the projections 11 and 12 is to hold the spring in position until it has functioned. The tube 13 is not necessary in every case, but it is desirable where a long stiff spring is used because it prevents the spring from bending. i f

For the purpose of holding the hammer in the position shown in Fig. 1, a novel fusible link anchoring device has. been provided. This anchoring device is shown in Figs. ande, but is not broadly claimed in this application because it forms the subject of a copending application of 'evenedate herewith. The anchoring device consists of two flexible arms 15 and 16 which may be formed from a single piece of metal connected at their center points by means of a'ltransverse portion 17.

The extreme ends of the arms are bent outwardly as indicated at 18 so as to form divergent portions between which a plug 19 ofl easily fusible metalcan be placed. This plug is preferably inclined at the same angle as the sides 18 and is provided on its edges with depressions 20 for the'reception of the portions 18. f The outer ends of portions 18 may be bent inwardly as indicated by 21 so as to more securely hold the fusible material Vhen the device shown in Fig. 1 is assembled, arms 15 vand 16 are inserted through the openings 22 in part 4', after which they are spread vapart and held in spread position bymeans of the fusible plug.

s It will be readily seen from Fig. 5 that the hammer is held anchored to the part i by means of the fusible link assembly, and that as long as plug 19 remains in` a solid state, the arms cannot'be withdrawn from the opening.

As soon as the temperature rises sufficiently to melt the plug 19, the metal of which this plug is form-ed, will flow and this will leave the arms 18 without any soli'drmaterial interposed between them, and therefore they can f readily be pull-ed through the opening,

whereupon'V the spring 14 will function to drive the hammer against the tip 10 of the grenade whereupon the latter will break, and

the contents will be discharged into the room.

I want to call particular attention to the link structure shown infFig. 5 because it will be apparent from this disclosure that there is no danger of this fusible link failing before l the temperature has reach-ed thepoint necessary to fuse the plug. The plug is required to resist compressive strains only and therefore it is very effective because regardless of the fact that the fusible solder of which it is made may not have ay veryV large tensile strength, it will' still resist compression as such material is quite solid and has a high co'- eificient" of compressibility and therefore there is no danger ofy the link failing pre'- maturely as often happens ,when the ordinary type of link is used in'which the tensile strength of the solder is depended on to hold the link in operative condition.

In large rooms it is often necessary to support some of the lire extinguishers from the ceilings as well as from the walls and from supporting columns, and one of the objects of this invention is to produce a construction that can be readily supported in either position. It will be seen from Fig. 1 that body member' lis provided with two spaced keyhole slots that have been designated with reference numeral 23 and when the device is to be supported from a wall, two screws or nails are driven into the; wall a proper distance apart and inserted in the keyhole slots. When thelire extinguisher is to be supported from the ceiling Va bracket 24 is provided. This bracket has a portion indicated by reference numeral 25 which fits against thetceilingand-has one or two openings for the reception of securing screws 26. The downwardly extending portion ofthe bracket is provided with headed pins or rivets 27' that are adapted to pass through the keyhole slots in the mannershown in Fig. 1.

By constructing the support in the manner shown, and by providing brackets 24, it is evident that the fire extinguishers can be supported from either the wall or from the ceiling as may be desired, without necessitating any change in the other parts of the structure, and this greatly simplifies the manufacture, because it makes it' unnecessary to provide a separate structure for the wall and for the to the body member above the bend, a'compression coil spring located between the ham# mer and the outwardly projecting portion of thebody member, a tubular'member located inside ofthe spring for preventing buckling thereof, and a fusible link extending bej tween the hammerand the outwardly bent portion for holding Vthe'hammer in lsuch a position that the spring will beunderfcompression whereby when the temperaturerises sufficiently to make the link fail the hammer 'will move in response to the action of the spring and break the grenade, l r

2. A bracket for supporting a hermetically sealed glass grenade containing carbon tetrachloride or the like, comprising asubstantially stra-ight body member of sheet CTI metal adapted to be supported in a vertical position, means for supporting a grenade 1ocated adjacent' the upper end o the body member, the lower end of the body member being bent along a transverse line so as to extend outwardly at an angle to the upper portion of the body member, the body member having a narrow vertical slot positioned a short distance above the bend, an elongated hammer comprising a latmetal strip having an enlarged striking head at one end and a neck portion of reduced width at the other end, the length of the slot being suicient to permit the end of the hammer having the neck portion to be inserted when its plane is parallel to the plane of the slot, the width of the slot being slightly greater than the width of the neck portion whereby when the hammer is rotated into a plane perpendicular to the length of the slot it will not come out of the slot, a coil compression spring located between the hammer and the outwardly bent portion of the body member and a fusible link connecting the outer endvof the hammer with the outer end of the outwardly inclined portion of the body member.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature.

l WILLIAM L. ROESSNER. 

